West Yarmouth man guilty of child porn

A West Yarmouth man pleaded guilty Tuesday in US District Court in Boston to a charge of possession of child pornography related to hundreds of sexually explicit videos and images recovered from his computers.

A West Yarmouth man pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boston to a charge of possession of child pornography related to hundreds of sexually explicit videos and images recovered from his computers.

Scott J. Harrison, 45, faces between 10 and 20 years in federal prison at his sentencing in June.

Harrison, who was classified as a Level 3 sex offender because of a 2000 conviction, was accused of using a file-sharing network to download hundreds of photos and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts.

A Level 3 designation is given to those considered at highest risk to reoffend.

Cape and Islands prosecutors dropped a Barnstable Superior Court case against him in May because of the federal charges, according to court documents. A Barnstable County grand jury had indicted him on 335 counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of dissemination of child pornography.

Those charges stemmed from a 2010 investigation by state and Yarmouth police. That investigation was the basis for the federal charge, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in January.

In October 2012, state police contacted the U.S. Postal Inspection Service — which investigates crimes involving the U.S. mail and interstate electronic transmissions, including child pornography — for assistance in an investigation.

In September 2010, an undercover state trooper connected to a peer-to-peer content-sharing network and searched for terms linked to child pornography, according to the affidavit.

The trooper downloaded several files from Harrison's computer that turned out to be child pornography, according to the affidavit.

In October 2010, police searched Harrison's home and found video files and two computers that showed young boys between 8 and 14 engaged in explicit sexual acts, according to the affidavit.

Police also allegedly seized a book that contained sexually explicit photos of minors pressed between pages, including a baseball card of a 9-year-old boy.

Harrison was convicted in 2000 of indecent assault and battery on a child younger than 14. The victim in that case was the boy on the card, according to the affidavit.

After Tuesday's hearing, Harrison was placed in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and will remain incarcerated until his sentencing June 19.